Concrete aggregate feeder



Feb. 5, 19 63 D. F. HEATH CONCRETE AGGREGATE FEEDER Filed Feb. 12, 19602 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jnvent'or Dqnald f 'lecd'h wil'ness by WW WW :3? or 6Feb. 5, 1963 Filed Feb. 12, 1960 D. F. HEATH 3,076,580

CONCRETE AGGREGATE FEEDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Wit'ne55 M, w fi AnvenPov90mm Wmam tas Iowa

Filed Feb. 12, 1%0, Ser. No. 8,382 1 Claim. (til. ZZZ iM) My inventionrelates to concrete aggregate feeding devices and more particularly tosuch a feeding device Where material flow is pneumatic-ally powered.

The process of pneumatically forcing a dry concrete mixture through ahose device, introducing Water to the mixture at a nozzle on the hoseextremity, and discharg ing the resulting wet substance from the nozzleat the desired location has long been successfully utilized as a meansof conveying and applying concrete material in the building industry. Avariety of machines has been devised to accomplish the mechanics ofconveying the dry concrete mixture from a source of supply to the pointof discharge at the nozzle extremity. The most successful of thesemachines utilize a compressed air system to accomplish this operation.Rotors of various descriptions which have material chambersintermittently sealed by the rotation of the rotor itself are oftenemployed to introduce the dry concrete material into the forced airstream. These existing devices are somewhat handicapped in that only alimited volume of material can be transmitted by the rotor elements intothe air stream. Distributor assemblies are also usually required withthe aforementioned devices to slowly meter the concrete material as itpasses from the rotor compartments into the primary compressed airstream to prevent any pulsation at the discharge hose nozzle. A furtherproblem encountered by the aforementioned devices is that any slightdisalignment during casting of the rotor core, through which the rotordrive shaft extends, tends to break the sealing characteristics of therotor compartments.

Therefore, the principal object of my invention is to provide a concreteaggregate feeder that can substantially increase the rate of flow ofconcrete material, as compared to existing devices, from the source ofsupply to the in-place area. I

A further object of my invention is to provide a concrete aggregatefeeder that can deliver concrete material directly to the primarycompressed air stream without causing pulsation at the nozzle.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a concreteaggregate feeder that does not require a distributor assembly to meterthe concrete material into the discharging air stream.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a concreteaggregate feeder that will maintain a proper seal on the rotorcompartments even though the rotor core through which the rotor driveshaft extends is in improper alignment.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a rotor for aconcrete aggregate feeder that can be readily adapted for use onexisting feeder equipment.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a concreteaggregate feeder that is economical of manufacture, durable in use andrefined in appearance.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangemerits, andcombination, of the various parts of the de-t vice, whereby the objectscontemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth,specifically pointed out in my claim, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of my device;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the rotor of my device;

FIG. 3 is a partial vertical sectional view of my device taken throughthe charging hopper, top casting assembly, rotor shroud and rotor; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of my device taken on line 4- i of FIG. 3.

I have used the numeral it) to generally designate the frame of mydevice which can have wheels 12 on its rearward end with pedestal 14 andhitch 16 on its forward extremity. A gasoline engine unit, whichprovides power to the moving mechanical parts of my device, is locatedon the forward end of frame i and is generally designated by the numeral18.

A vertically disposed circular rotor shroud 2b is mounted in anyconvenient fashion on the rearward end of frame it Hinge elements 22extend upwardly from frame it; at one side of rotor shroud Zll. Acircular top casting assembly 24 is pivotally secured between hingeelements 22 by means of lug 26 and pin 28. As shown in FIG. 1, the topcasting assembly 24 is normally resting on and closing the circularrotor shroud 2%). A vertical rod 29 is secured to frame A in anyconvenient manner at a point adjacent rotor shroud 2t) and is adapted topenetrate a suitable aperture in handle 36 that extends laterally fromtop casting assembly 24. Hand wheel 31 is threadably secured to the topof rod 29 to selectively hold the top casting assembly and rotor shroudin closed relationship. A charging hopper 32 is secured in anyconvenient manner to the upper perimeter of top casting assembly 24.

A vertical power shaft 314, which is operatively conected to the powershaft on gasoline engine unit 13, extends upwardly from frame it?through the center of rotor shroud 20. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, theupper portion 35 of shaft 34 is square in cross section. The upper endof shaft 34 penetrates the opening 36 in top casting assembly 24, andreleasably engages the hub 38 of agitator assembly ac.

A rotor liner i2 is mounted on the bottom of rotor shroud 2t and ispreferably comprised of rubber or the like. A discharge opening 44 inliner 42 registers with a discharge opening as in frame 18 which will bediscussed hereafter. An air exhaust opening 47 which communicates withthe outside atmosphere through frame 10 is located in liner 42 as shownin FIG. 4. A second rubber rotor liner 48 is secured in any convenientmanher to the lower surface of top casting assembly 24 as shown in 3. Anair inlet opening 5 in liner 4% communicates with the air intake conduit52 in top casting assembly 24. As shown in FIG. 3, opening in liner 42is smaller in diameter than opening 44 in liner -48. A material intakeopening S4 is located in liner 4-? approximately 189 away from air inletopening 50, and opening as registers with material intake opening 55 intop casting assembly 24%. Opening as in turn communicates with theinterior of the charging hopper 32 as shown in FIG. 3.

A rotor 58 is comprised of a vertically disposed circular drum 60 withflanges 62 and 64 extending laterally outwardly from the upper and lowerperimeters, respec tively, thereof. A plurality of straight walls 66extends radially inwardly from the inner diameter of drum 6!) towardsthe center of the drum, but walls 66 terminate at circular wall 68 asshown in FIG. 4. The drum 6%, Walls 66 and circular wall 68 divide theouter portion of the rotor 58 into a plurality of material compartments70 all of equal size. rms 72 extend radially inwardly from the top ofcircular wall 68 to support bearing member 74 in the center of the drum6% Bearing member 74 has a bore 76 which is square in cross section andwhich has a cross sectional area slightly larger than that of the upperportion 35 of power shaft 34. A shoulder 78, which also defines a squareopening, extends inwardly from the lower end of bearing member 74 andthe size and area defined by shoulder 78 is substantially the same asthe cross sectional area of the square portion 35 of power shaft 34. Itwill be noted that hearing member 74 does not extend completely to thebottom of rotor but terminates approximately in the center thereof.Upper and lower wear plates 81 and 82 are secured to flanges 62 and 64,respectively, of rotor 58 by bolts 84. Wear plates 30 and 82 have aplurality of openings that completely register with compartments 70 inrotor 53.

Rotor 53 can be installed or removed from rotor shroud 20 when topcasting assembly 24 is in an open condition. As shown in FIG. 3 rotor 58is mounted within the rotor shroud 20 by lowering the rotor onto powershaft 34 so that the square upper portion 35 of the shaft penetrates thebore 76 of bearing member 74 to permit the shoulder 78 to engage portion35 of the shaft. The depth of rotor 58 is such that it, with wear plates80 and 82 attached, substantially fills the gap between the rubber rotorliner plates Q2 and 48 when the top casting assembly 24 is in a closedposition on rotor shroud 20. Hand wheel 31. can be tightened on rod 29against handle 39 on top casting assembly 24 to urge the top castingassembly against the rotor 58 and rotor shroud 20. Hand wheel 31 can beoperated to selectively adjust the tension between these elements.

A compressed air intake coupling 35 is secured to frame and is adaptedto be secured to a source of cornprcsscd air. Flexible conduit 86extends from compressed air coupling 85 and communicates with intake airconduit 52 in top casting assembly 24 by means of coupling 88. Coupling99 is inserted within conduit 86 and conduit 92 carries a stream ofcompressed air from coupling 90 to discharge elbow 94 which is securedby bolts 96 over discharge opening 46 in frame 10. Elbow 94 has athreaded flange 97 thereon which is adapted to receive a hose connectionso that the dry concrete material might be carried to the hose nozzleand thence to its final destination.

The normal operation of my device is as follows: With the rotor 58placed within rotor shroud 26' in the manner described above, and withthe top casting assembly in a closed position on the rotor and rotorshroud, rotational power is supplied to power shaft 34- by gasolineengine 18. The dry concrete aggregate is located in charging hopper 32and falls by gravity through the opening 56 in top casting assembly 24to the compartment 70 in rotor 58 which is located below opening 56 atthat particular instant. With the rotor 58 rotating in acounter-clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 4, the compartments '70which are filled with dry concrete material pass under the compressedair inlet 5% as shown in FIG. 3. The compressed air stream passingthrough conduit 86, coupling 88 and conduit 52 forces the dry concretematerial in the compartment 70 underneath inlet opening 59 down wardlythrough the discharge opening 46 into elbow 94.

The compressed air stream flowing through coupling 90, conduit 92 andinto elbow 94 carries the discharged concrete material through the hosewhich can be connected to flange 97 on the elbow, and thence to ultimatedischarge through the hose nozzle.

The rotation of rotor 58 between the rubber rotor liners 42 and 48substantially seals the compartments 70 in the rotor. The compartments7% pass over the exhaust opening 47 after the concrete materialcontained therein has been discharged through opening 45 and thecompressed air injected into the compartment during the dischargeoperation can escape through this exhaust opening. Thus, thecompartments are decompressed before they pass under material inletopening 56 to be refilled.

Since bearing member 74 engages the square upper portion $5 of driveshaft 34 only at shoulder 73, a slight disalignment of the bore 76through faulty casting will not atiect the rotors ability to rotate insealed condition between the two rubber rotor liners 4-2 and 48.

The straight walls 66 which extend radially outwardly from curved wall68 permit the compartments to have maximum volume, and increase thecarrying capacity of the compartments substantially twenty-five percentover compartments which are circular, for example. This great increasein the carrying capacity of the compartments permits the elimination ofany metering equipment for the volume of concrete material delivered toelbow 94 is great enough and rapid enough to provide an even flowthrough the discharge hose without causing adverse pulsation at the hosedischarge nozzle.

Thus, from the foregoing, it is seen that my device will accomplish atleast all of its stated obiectives.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of myconcrete aggregate feeder without departing from the real spirit andpurpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claim,any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents whichmay be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

A concrete aggregate feeder comprising in combination:

a circular frame having an opening formed therein for dischargingmaterial therethrough;

a power means on said frame;

a vertically disposed cylindrical rotor shroud on said frame;

a vertical power shaft extending upwardly through a bore therefor insaid frame and into said shroud, an upper portion of said shaft reducedin diameter from the remainder thereof and with a first shoulder formedthereby, said upper portion square in cross section, said shaft operablyconnected to and driven by said power means;

a casting pivotally secured to said frame and adapted to close over saidrotor shroud, said casting havin an air inlet opening formed thereinsubstantially vertically above said frame discharge opening, saidcasting having a material inlet opening formed therein arcuately spacedfrom said air inlet opening; conduit means connected to said frame forreceiving material from said discharge opens;

means for transmitting compressed air through said inlet opening, andalso through said conduit means so as to transmit the materialtherethrough;

and a cylindrical rotor having a bearing member centrally thereof andhaving a plurality of armately spaced compartments formed verticallytherein which are adapted to pass sequentially beneath said materialinlet opening, and each of which is adapted to pass simultaneously aboveand below said frame opening and said air inlet opening, said bearingmember adapted to sit on said first shoulder and having a bore formedcentrally thereof for receiving said shaft, said bore being square incross section and having an upper portion the diameter of which isslightly larger than the diameter of a lower portion thereof, said lowerportion having a length less than the length of said upper portion andadapted to engage said shaft wherein said upper portion walls are spacedradially from said shaft.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSLanhofier et a1 Sept. 30, 1930 Hagen Mar. 21, 1939 Colburn Oct. 20, 1942Colburn Mar. 16, 1943 Obenshain June 8, 1954 Agronin Oct. 6, 1959 VogtMay 23, 1961

